There Is So Much ‘Lion King’ Coming Your Way, and Rob Lowe Is Simba

It looks like Disney has mostly forgotten about its already existent Lion King sequel (Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, anyone?) because it’s currently in the process of creating yet another successor to its enormously successful franchise.

According to the Hollywood Reporter both Rob Lowe and Gabrielle Union have signed on to voice Simba and Nala, respectively, in the upcoming Disney Channel TV movie and series sequel.

Some familiar voices are rejoining the franchise, with James Earl Jones and Ernie Sabella reprising their roles from the original Lion King film as Mufasa and Pumbaa. Max Charles has been cast to voice Simba and Nala’s second-born cub Kion.

The TV series, titled The Lion Guard, will follow Kion as he takes his place as leader of the Lion Guard, a team of animals who watch over the Pride Lands. Kion’s pack of animal friends set to round out the Lion Guard include honey badger Bunga (Joshua Rush), Ono, an egret (Atticus Shaffer), a cheetah named Fuli (Diamond White) and Beshte, a hippo (Dusan Brown).

The television movie The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar is set to air on the Disney Channel in November, and it'll serve as an introduction to the upcoming Lion Guard series, which will hit screens in early 2016 on both the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

We wonder what this means for Simba and Nala's firstborn cub, Kiara, and why she's been relegated to a straight-to-TV movie released back in 1994. Will she make a cameo? Is that even possible, since she's probably super busy as Queen of the Pride Lands by now? Will they forget that storyline ever existed in the first place?